History
The history of Kipernia is extensive, and has had many influential events over the course of its existence. Some of these events were extreme enough to change the shape of Kipernia, and even reality it self. As such, the timeline is split into Ages. Time is Denoted as BC and AC, Before Cataclysm and After Cataclysm The Dawn Ages - Before Time A time of myths and legends In the Begining Nearly every culture to have ever existed references a similar creation mythos, that in the beginning Kipernia was pulled together from the elemental choas by a primordial being known as Primaris. Primaris created the material plane of Kipernia from the combined elemental essence of the different planes; fire, air, water, and earth. In this time the world was very different than it was now. Volcanoes dotted the land, and where The Great Sea now lies there was once an immense landmass that linked all of Kipernia. The Seeds of Life At first, only beings from the elemental planes occupied Kipernia, it was a sort of common ground for them. Elementals and genies roamed all over for an unknown amount of time, until the appearance of the Gods. Scholars believe that the Gods have always existed in the Outter Planes, and only when they see a new Material Plane drifting around in the Deep Etheral do they have an interest. Many Gods quickly flow into Kipernia in a time known as The Seeding, and infusing the world with life. 4 species known as Creator Races were made by ancient gods whose names have been lost to the sands of time. These ancient Gods walked the land with their children, and they had to, for the elementals and Primordials hated the Gods and their new races for intruding on their domain. From this conflict arose the first great war, The Godstorm. The Godstorm - Aprox 14,000 BC - 13,500 BC The elemental primordials, genies, and elementals war with the gods of the Outter Planes and their children. Maybe habe outter and inner combine? The War of the Titans The Gods have a war with the denizens on the inner elmental planes, as well as each other. It is Good vs Evil as well as Lawful vs Chaotic. Many gods are killed and much of the outter / inner planes were formed as a result of this conflict. Some scholars believe that this event took place in other realms as well, albiet by different names such as The Dawn War, and with slightly different interpretations. As a result the gods realizing that directly interacting with their creations was not a good idea. The War in Heaven Stuff about celestial, creation of the abyss and carceri / 9 hells. Fall of asmodeus. The Sundering gods decide that their conflict csnt be in mortal world so seal it off, along with inner planes. Only access via portal. The ancient gods leave their creation forever, the material plane now separate. The Age of Thunder ~13,500 BC - 9999 BC From here, the material plane grew lush with life, the plane itself still warm from the leftover energy of the Godstorm. The First Empires Scholars believe that much of what is now the Great Sea used to be land, and that all of Kipernia was once one solid landmass and much warmer as well. Great giant terrible lizards roamed the land, some say the result of the twisted experiments of the dominant race of snakelike entities, The Sarrukh. During this time the ancestors of humans and orcs lived in fear of the other creator races, lacking the cunning of the Sarukh, the weird powers of the Batrachi, or the flight of the Aaeree. The only evidence of this time comes from half remembered myths and a few cave paintings found throughout Kipernia, suggesting that humans have always been widespread within the Sarrukh empire, although they existed as slaves. Despite Arcane magic not being as powerful or accessible as it is now, both the Sarrukh and Batrachi were able to use it in complex rituals, whereas the Aeree kept to the skies. Little is known about the timing of this period, the earliest confirmed record recovered gives the year of 11, 286 BC, derived from a Sarrukh Calendar found in Yuan-Ti ruins deep within Jurasis. The Yuan-Ti seem to have a very adept understanding of the Sarrukh calander and their understanding of the stars, and leading theories suggest that the Godstorm ended at least 2000 years before this date, and other records suggest that time goes back even further than this, though scholars to this day still do not understand as much, and as their civilization is gone and their decedents are horrible snakepeople it is very likely this will go unanswered. Moradin's Children The terrible lizards and other Sarrukh creations like Naga, Lizardfolk, and Yuan-Ti are not the only way new life forms began to appear. As Kipernia grew, it began to attract the attention of other gods from the outter realms who did not fight in the Godstorm. The first non native race to appear were the Illithid, who brought with them Moradin Dwarves are made by Moradin, illithid and Gith come from astral plane. Illithid enslave them both. Kobolds are made, the first protodragons also diverge from their larger ancestors. The Age of Magic 9999 BC - 9000 BC The first of many literal earth shattering events, Magic from the Sky Like many things from this time period, little is known besides myths and legends and what meager knowledge scholars are able to gather and argue over. The legends tell of a giant rock falling from the sky and crashing into what is now the great sea. The leading theory suggets that the inner planes and material planes were linked differently before this, and a massive event changed them forever, it is believed that this event was caused by a separate pocket dimension of pure arcane essence floating in the Deep Ethral. Regardless, this rock... A New World In the material realms, legends tell that what is now the Great Sea used to be land, all of the different continents being connected. Some scholars suggest that the stars themselves are another realm, almost like an outter space of the material plane. They say that so much material must have been thrown into the sky and mixed with the arcane essense that it formed the second smaller moon of Kipernia, Morsleib. It would explain the moons strange orbit compared to its larger sibling which follows a regular monthly lunar cycle. Also knocked the planet on a weird tilt. As the stories go, a giant flaming rock fell from the sky, striking into what is now The Tritons and throwing the climate and seas into disarray, the land itself warping as it combined with these new realities. Slowly over the next thousand years the world stabilized, however it was much colder now. The Sarrukh and their cold blooded decenents found themselves suddenly confined to the few remaining warm and lush jungle pockets in Kipernia. Scholars also believe that this event caused the mirror realms of the Shadowfel and Feywild to be created. Elves, gnomes, halflings, and goblins appear. Elves notably have the city of The Vale appear from what scholars believe to be the actions of a different realm. An Empire Falls, Others Rise The cold-blooded Sarrukh could not survive in the new climate, and are confined to the few remaining warm pockets. No longer enslaved, the Elves and Dwarves begin to expand, still unknown to eachother as their territories had not yet encroached. Elves are believed to have traditional territory in Buenopia and Dwarves in the more mountainous regions of Korvair, as well as the Underdark. On the East Landmass remained the remants of the Yuan-Ti and many former human slaves. The slaves eventually began to form tribes and its from here that the long history of the Eastern Kingdoms is believed to have began. The evil empire of Thay is believed to have been founded around this time as well, with a group of Yuan-Ti supposedly teaching humans dark magic. The Age of Empires 9000 BC - 5671 BC The Dwarfs by this point had managed to fight off the Illithid with the help of the Gith. The Gith returned to the Astral Plane and the Dwarves were able to expand over much of the Underdark. For some reason the Underdark was not as affected by the magical events, and as Dwarves have an extremly strong link to their god they had no issue with magic as they had plenty of Divine powers. Some scholars say that Dwarven culture has a low opinion of the Arcane Arts because it is a left over remant of Illithid brainwashing, though if one wishes to keep their head that should never be said in front of a Dwarf. They will tell you its because Arcane Magic is an undeserved shortcut for mortals. At this time they were at the height........ In contrast, the elves have arcane magic in their blood. It is for this, and other reasons, that when Dwarven miners broke through the sacred mountain of the Elves, what is now Guildenhal. Both races were at their peak at this time, never fully recovering from the war, even during the Age of Enlightenment. The War of Stone and Leaf 5671 BC - 5601 BC Elf vs Dwarf war. Drow raiders posted as elves raided the dwarves sparking further conflict. The Age of Giants 5601 BC - 4221 BC One war ends only with another to begin with an even greater foe, and those who were once enemies begin their ancient friendship. The Giants The war was abruptly stopped with the appearence of Giants, as their stories say their god Annam All-Father had children with another Goddess, and she took the form of the great mountain The Chin after their birth. Annam saw the tiny children of all the other tiny gods and decided that his shall be large like him, large to rule over the little races. The Elves and Dwarves quickly made peace but quickly found themselves overwhelmed by the giants. The barbaric humans fared no better, the East Kingdoms, though a little more advanced, also evnetually fell to the Giants reign. The world was split amongst them. Large Folk Should Rule Giants rule the smaller races, war with the Yuan-Ti still. They have the upper hand and rule for thousand of years, its more occasional guriella strikes from Yuan-Ti out of their jungle. A Bitter Vengance Making a pact with the ancient dragon god, Io, the Yuan-Ti create the first true ancestors of what would eventually become Metallic and Chromatic Dragons. Use it to try and regain their empire, as well as making a pact with the elemental planes to aid in their twisted creation. They wish to make the world warm again. The Draconic Wars 4220 BC Dragons vs Giants The mortals only survived by the elves tricking the giants into an arcane ritual to attempt to banish the dragons...but at great cost. The mortals barely fought off the incursion, only by the elves tricking the giants into an arcane ritual to attempt to banish the dragons...but at great cost the ELVES taught giants about ring stuff and they tricked both? The Age of Enlightenment 4220 - 0 The gods watch as the smaller mortal races rebuild, and realise that if they return then it allows for the evil gods to return as well and start the Godstorm anew. They saw that the races could do fine without them and so decided it best to leave them be, letting the morals run their own affairs with only the occasional divine intervention. The Elves and Dwarves desperately try to rebuild to their former glory, this time working togerher. But even this does not allow either to reclaim all that they had. Some say in their desperate attempt to recover both races attempted to use The Rings, resulkting in The Cataclysm. The elves held back br drow and tbe dwarves by djregsr and skaven In the East HUMAN KINGDOMS BY RICH, affected by Catacalism? Thay, a colony of humans deep within the jungles of Jurasis, took after their former Sarrukh overlords, making peverse alliances with the Yuan-Ti and practing the arts of Dark Magic and Slavery. Affected by catacalis,m? The Cataclysm 0 The Ring blows up, the 2 smaller ones mutate. Elves and Dwarves get too cocky with giants leftover devices, cause the Cataclysm, an event nearly on in terms of destruction of the land as the impact of the magic meteor. The Dark Ages 0 - about tree fiddy AC Elves and Dwarves retreat, Humans slowly expand. The Age of Man 350 AC - 2789 AC With the Elves and Dwarves having retreated to their holds, humans found the perfect opportunity to spread. From their southern kingdom they spread to the eastland of Thay and the far North creating prosperous colonies. The Age of The Realms 2789 AC - 3420 AC However as is the nature of man, conflict quickly arose. Thay declared independence, Korvair and Buenopia could not agree on colonial terms, and Nor'isca simply decided to start raiding everyone. The lands of Korvair are now independent but constantly assailed by the barbaric tribes of the Wild Mountains, Buenopia is ruled by a mad king, Thay is ruled by a coven of evil red wizards and slaver lords of the East, and Nor'isca has fallen to what some whisper is the Ice Queen. The Age of The Mad King 3460-3614 (current year) Somehow the mad king rules still (CI campaign)